Maine man held on $200,000 bail after 4 kids left in car

FRANKLIN — A 28-year-old Maine man was being held on $200,000 cash bail after police say he left four children in his car with the windows closed as temperatures hit 97 degrees Wednesday.

Jeremiah Hollenbeck of Lebanon, Maine, was charged with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a charge of possession of stolen merchandise, and a felony charge of possession of a narcotic drug, said Franklin Police Sgt. Daniel Ball.

.Two of the children in the car were 9 months old, one was age 5, and the fourth was age 9, Ball said, declining to say if the children are related to Hollenbeck.

The children were checked for injuries at Franklin Regional Hospital but are all doing fine, Ball said...Police were called by a woman who passed by the car and saw the children without open windows just before 4 p.m.

Police went into the store to find the man, who store workers said was purchasing sandwich bags and multiple decks of playing cards...Items stolen from the Family Dollar store were found inside the man's vehicle, Ball said.

Ball said the children could have suffered grave illness if left in a car without ventilation.

A store clerk, Joseph Kosits, said Hollenbeck had been inside the store, shopping casually, for 10 to 15 minutes..."He bought all these playing cards," Kosits said. "Then all of a sudden the police came in and took him away."